JUNEAU — The Alaska Court of Appeals has reversed the conviction of a former assistant state attorney general who was convicted for using her position to help a friend who was facing criminal charges for forging documents relating to a union membership drive among University of Alaska employees.
The appeals court found Erin Pohland’s computer was improperly seized by police during a search related to that union investigation, and because much of the evidence leading to Pohland’s misconduct conviction came from that computer, the conviction should be reversed.
“As we explain in this opinion,” the appeals court wrote, “the troopers did not have probable cause to believe that Pohland’s personal laptop computer contained evidence of her landlord’s financial and business crimes. Moreover, rather than confining their search to documents and spreadsheets ... the troopers obtained much of the evidence against Pohland by combing through thousands of Pohland’s personal text messages. ... For these reasons, we reverse Pohland’s conviction.”
The story of Pohland’s criminal case begins in 2010, when she was working as a state lawyer charged with providing legal advice to the Alaska Labor Relations Agency.
At the time, Pohland was living in Anchorage and renting an apartment from a friend, Skye McRoberts. At the time, McRoberts was working for a company called Grizzly Mailing and Printing, which was working to facilitate a union drive by the Alaska State Employees Association.
If enough University of Alaska employees filled out union-interest cards, ASEA could begin the process of organizing a new union.
ASEA data processor Jennifer Petersen became suspicious when many of the cards were filled out with pens using the same ink and same handwriting. She reported the matter to the labor relations agency, which in turn referred the matter to Pohland.
Pohland didn’t take significant action, despite the warning. At the time, Pohland was close friends with McRoberts and rented an apartment from her. In December 2010, the two were arrested while attempting to steal more than $1,000 worth of shoes from a Fred Meyer store in Anchorage. Pohland pleaded guilty in 2011 to a charge of concealment of merchandise.
Meanwhile, Petersen had gone to the Alaska State Troopers about the issues she had seen. Troopers investigated, and in February 2012, both Pohland and McRoberts were charged in connection with the union falsification. McRoberts was convicted of second-degree forgery in 2013. Two years after that, following a five-day jury trial, Pohland was convicted of official misconduct.
Pohland was disbarred by the Alaska Supreme Court in early 2016 and has since moved to Pennsylvania, according to online records.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the location of the Fred Meyer store. It was Anchorage not Juneau.